Stephen A. Quaye
30 June 2009
opinion
Coming from a country where problems facing the residents of a local community in a particular constituency or a region can only be only solved by a Minister, Member of Parliament or assembly member for that area, it is very difficult to change the mind of the people to fight for their own development, instead of solely relying on government officials.
As the reliance on government to solve problems deepens, so does it make certain politicians explore the people for the electorates to vote for them as their leaders. Since many of these selfish politicians think it is only by telling lies that can push them up or get them elected by the people, they devise all sort of lies, some very unsubstantiated.
Some are just defamatory against opponents who are very likely to win the favour of electorates in their constituencies. Some have succeeded while others have put themselves in trouble where their accusers have sought redress through the law courts. Some of such cases are still before the law courts. Many are those who claim that politics is dirty, looking at the way some of our politicians physically or verbally people of other political persuasion, who do not share the same opinion as they do.
They rant their mouths with insults when their opponents express views different from what they believe in.
But in reality politics is not as dirty as some of us think. It is a nice game where one with the best strategy wins and to win one has to devise scientific strategies that would make him acceptable to majority of the electorate.
It is therefore very sad that many residents in Ghana have the perception that politics is dirty, so the best way to win an election is to embark on politics of deceit, lies, libel, tones of promises that can never be fulfilled.
Politics has been with Africans from time immemorial and to support the argument, and before the white man first set foot on our continental shores, at Gold Coast, our historians tell us that our chiefs ruled not with iron fists, but in consultation with their subjects.
They sat in state where issues of concern were discussed and the ordinary person's opinion was sought before the final decision was made by the chief, which everyone had to obey.
Apart from this, politics was a critical study of events of the past under the leadership of certain persons who later found out whether their policies were implemented through the freedom and development yearned for by their subjects.
This enabled the people to offer support to their leaders if necessary, or kick them out and replace them, to implement new policies that will benefit the masses. In this direction, Ghanaians can be praised, since they do a lot of research before they vote for a particular party. If not, they would not have voted for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2000 Elections after listening to Mr. J.A. Kufuor's campaign message on the economy."
After Kufuor's eight years term in office, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) managed to wrestle power back, because they managed to convince the electorate that the NPP government can not improve the country's economy, and therefore Ghanaians voted for the NDC to come back to power.
Whether the electorate did their home work well before voting for the NDC or not, the cries coming from the constituencies of "ye nu yenhu" tells it all. Do not take the good thinking Ghanaians for granted, and if I say this I mean they are very assertive.
Five months in office and President Atta Mills and his government have started to complain that what they were promised is not what they are seeing now. Politics of deceit or truth?, trust the Ghanaian electorate to assess the leaders in government and effect a change when the time is due.
Therefore, President Atta Mills should fix the economy if he claims it was bad when he took over from the Kufuor administration, otherwise Ghanaians are going to show him and his NDC government the exit, come 2012.
President Atta Mills, please open your eyes and ears, and act swiftly to ensure that no dirty water passes under your bridge, otherwise 2012 will be an unfulfilled dream if you want to get re-elected as Ghana's President.
Some of us do not want to hear any flimsy excuses again, just as people who could not climb mountain Everest should not complain that the boundaries prevented them from climbing it.
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